Has the girls' clothing been found, Huntley asked

SOHAM accused Ian Huntley told a journalist, 24 hours after Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared, that police had searched his house "and they think I did it", his Old Bailey murder trial heard yesterday.

SOHAM accused Ian Huntley told a journalist, 24 hours after Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared, that police had searched his house "and they think I did it", his Old Bailey murder trial heard yesterday.

BBC producer Debbie Tubby said Huntley approached her on the night of Monday, August 5, the day after the 10-year-olds vanished, and said he was the last person to see them and therefore a police suspect.

The jury heard that Huntley later asked her if the girls' clothing had been found - nine days before the girls' naked bodies were discovered.

Their clothing had been cut off and the charred remnants were eventually found hidden in a bin at Soham Village College, where Huntley worked as a caretaker.

The prosecution alleges that he murdered the girls in his house on Sunday, August 4, last year, hours after they left Holly's home, and dumped their bodies in a remote ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk.

They claim he returned to the ditch three days later, on the night of Wednesday, August 7, and tried to set fire to the bodies to disguise them and destroy forensic evidence.

A policeman, who had a cup of tea with him, said Huntley seemed "upset" and "tired", adding, "He came across as having a great sense of guilt, that he could have done more when he met the children."

Pc Tim Cleary said they discussed forensic evidence. "However, he was keen to reiterate what he had already said in respect of there having been an accident and one had gone to help the other."

Prosecution barrister Richard Latham QC warned the jury at the opening of the case that the defence might claim the girls' deaths were the result of "a ghastly accident".